Bills Introduced To Withhold Pay From Congressional Representatives

A Republican Senator from Montana, Steve Daines, has introduced a bill, the “No Work, No Pay Act,” in the Senate that would withhold people in our Congress from being paid during a government shutdown.

The Daily Caller is reporting on this bill and a similar bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Republican Utah Congressmen John Curtis, which would make it unlawful to pay U.S. senators and representatives during government shutdowns.

Senator Daines was quoted in the article saying:

Members of Congress are sent to Washington, D.C., to represent the great people of their state and keep the federal government open, working and funded. So it’s simple. If they can’t do that, they shouldn’t get paid. No work, no pay

Makes perfect sense to me, I do find it interesting that the bills were introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives by two Republicans and not Democrats.

Another Republican Congressmen, Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw also announced Thursday he would refuse to be paid until the government is open. He told the Daily Caller:

Democrats aren’t the only people who want this shutdown to end. Republicans have tried to compromise, but Democrats won’t come to the table and negotiate in good faith. I cannot let federal employees take the fall for Democrats’ grandstanding, so I am withholding my pay until this partial shutdown ends

My only problem with Congressmen Crenshaw’s comment is that I really do not believe that the Democrats really want the partial government shutdown to end. If they did they would be looking for a compromise with President Trump to end this partial shutdown. At this point it appears they are attempting to extract as much political pain as possibly believing that President Trump would crack first, not caring what it is doing to everyday American citizens.

President Trump has stated that he is looking for a deal with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to end this partial shutdown. They have told him and the American people they are not looking to compromise, they want it their way or no way. Currently the only people who are hurt because of their stance of no compromise are the Federal workers who are not being paid and the American people who are affected by this partial shutdown.

Another Republican Congressmen from Oklahoma, Kevin Hern, is actually donating his salary from the partial government shutdown to veteran’s organizations. He is quoted in the article saying:

I’ve long held the belief that if you don’t do your job, you shouldn’t get paid. Being elected to Congress shouldn’t exempt us from the standards that any employer would hold. If Congress can’t fund the government, we shouldn’t be paid for failing to do our Constitutional duty

Again it is Republicans who are submitting these bills and making these comments, not one Democrat has stood up and said that they should not get paid during this shutdown.

Finally a pair of bills I believe most of us can agree with and support.